[Thundersnow events in the UK]

 damianslaw we had thundersnow down here on 23 December 2009 when that cold spell moderated a bit from the south.

Also.. 22nd February 1995 when a dramatic squall crossed the UK

28th January 2004.  This was widespread as a few have stated.

Also 6th April 2008.  3 inches in just over an hour but a one off extremely loud clap from a positive strike that was about 4 to 5 miles from my location.  Think this was the only strike during that event.

[Late February 1993 Wintry Spell]

I remember this one.  Even down here in north Hampshire we had about a centimetre of snow on the Saturday evening.  It quite quickly vanished the next day.  The fact we got snow from this may suggest a trough moved down in the flow.

[August 1992.]

I remember being in St Helier on the night of 8/9th August and seeing distant lightning flickering to the north.  Apparently these storms were good over the mainland, being similar in intensity and area affected to the 18/19 July 2017 storms.

I also remember an autumnal gale on the Saturday night and Sunday of the bank Holiday, with thunder as well.  This was similar to that named storm around 10 August 2014, so quite potent.

A good June and July though before it I must add.  June very much so.

[When do you predict the first 20°C and 25°C of 2024 will be?]

I'll punt for quite a Late 20C, April 28th, due to the current SSW.

Soon after though, on May 5th (the bank Holiday sunday) will see 25C.  I feel we could get a 1992 style may and see 30C in the latter stages.  Some classic Late may thunderstorms as well, but I digress

[Overrated summers]

I would say 2013 is a bit overrated if I had to pick one.  The June I felt was very cool indeed, nowhere in the UK reached 27C until the 30th.  It was also very cloudy although fairly dry.  August was average but had good weather at times, iirc the week of 19th to 23rd was good but that was the only settled period.  July of course needs no explanation, but this month  was summer essentially.

The reason I think people rate it highly is either because of the delayed spring that year, or the fact it followed 6 poor summers (or 4 poor and 2 'ok ish' summers).

[General summer chat]

 kold weather I remember reading somewhere that the 1976 heatwave had a weak warm front drifting northeast on the 21st opening the floodgates to very warm air.  The high pressure that was to the east at this time slowly expanded westward and persisted for over 2 weeks.  About 8 to 9 days into this spell there was a shallow low that drifted up from biscay, but didnt get too far north.  This helped to reinforce the hot pattern.  This was a very slow moving setup which kept the heat going for as long as it did.  If i remember rightly there was a 'slight' dip in temperature from 29th june to 1st July to maxes of low 30s in the west, mid to high 20s in the east as more of an easterly set in.  The heatwave could have collapsed at this point but was reinforced from the south.

If recent set ups are taken into account, a warm front moved east on 16th June 2017 which allowed that 5 day heatwave of 32+ under high pressure.  This would account for intensity.  To prolong it you'd then need something like a june/july 2018 scenario, where the high pressure was persistent, and buoyed up by a biscay low around the 30 June/1st July, which didnt push too far north.

So, something like a June 2017/June and July 2018 combination of synoptics could at least equal, if not beat 1976 I feel.

[If you had to lose one of the following weathers....]

I'd choose snow.  It is a shame, but we don't get much of it now anyway so wouldn't make a lot of difference.

[Underrated summers]

 Summer8906 yeah July 2000 was from memory unsettled and very cool for the 1st week, then benign for the rest of the month with both warm/sunny and cool/cloudy periods alternating.  Much like last august actually

in terms of underrated summers id add 1992 to the list.  June was very good, July was not unlike 2000, and August was at times sunny but very cool with any warmth limited to around 17th to 21st IIRC.

[The remarkable year of 1879]

This year has the lowest maximum anywhere in the UK on record at 26.8C, which I'm guessing would have been around when the 20C isotherm grazed, as mentioned above.  That would be unthinkable nowadays.  In fact, this is equal now to the highest minimum ever recorded in the UK in 2022.

[The UK's best summers for heat and thunder]

Yes 1994 is probably one of the best I remember for heat and thunder.  The 6 weeks or so from 24th June was a festival of castellanus, heat, humidity and thunder, interspersed with some fair weather days (low-mid 20s and cumulus humilis)

For those that might not remember it, it was similar to the 2nd half of June 2005, but 3-4 times as long.  Rinse and repeat galore.

[What heatwave would you like to see? [REQUEST]]

June/July 1976, extended by 1 week.  Within this though a few July 2006 thundery breakdowns, and 1 of the weeks to ramp up the heat and humidity to August 2020/July 2019 levels, but then with 40.4C at least on one day.  A 30.0C+ CET day, and the month it occurs in being a 20C+

[Worryingly Wet & Worryingly Sunless]

Yes, actually been a decent weekend here, for early March.  After the rain finished yesterday am I'd say about 70% sunshine maximum since then

[March 2024 C.E.T. and EWP forecast contests]

7.9C, 43mm.  Thanks

[April 2018 start of long warm spell]

 Summer8906 yes one of my favourite summers and wasn't too dissimilar to 2018 but obviously not as hot.

2014 had a lot more thunder here in north Hampshire including 2 night time storms in a row (17/18 and 18/19 july), one of the best on 13/14 June and the ex storm on 10th August had significant thunder.

June was consistently sunny and warm but never hot, I don't think 27C was hit anywhere in the month but 24-25C was quite frequently reached somewhere in the UK.  The short unsettled spells were thundery too.  

July was great too with a very warm to hot week/10days from 17th to 26th.  One of my favourite summer months.  In fact going further back June and July 2014were a bit like june and july 1994.

I always felt August was exceptionally poor but am sometimes guilty of forgetting despite a very cool 2nd half it was reasonably sunny.  

[Spring 2024]

1st half March 1995, 2nd half March 2012.  1st half April 2020, 2nd half April 2011, 1st half May 2009, 2nd half May 1992 or 2018 would do just great

[Summer 2006 or summer 2018]

Summer 2018 was probably the better one overall, although July 2006 was the best individual month of any of these summers.

For June I'd give 2006 a 8 out of 10.  It had a great 1st half (probably the best 1st half of June in my lifetime) though the 2nd half was still warm it was more changeable.  2018 I'd give a 7 out of 10.  It was actually non descript for the first 20 days, albeit exceptionally dry, with a few good days eg the 10th/11th before the very good last 10 days.

July 2006 would get a 10/10 for me, as it is the benchmark summer month for heat and storms.  Yes, the 6th to the 9th were a bit 'less great' but in the UK you expect that.  2018 gets a 9/10.. it was perfect for heat and sunshine but 1 point taken off for not much thunder (we did get a weak storm on the 13th)

August 2006 gets just a 3/10 as it was much more changeable but such a disappointment after July, and had no thunder, and it would have scored even lower had the 1st weekend not been very warm and sunny.  2018 however gets 6/10 as the heatwave lasted until about the 7th.  It was then still very 'pleasant' until about 21st but then the last 10 days were not great.

So 2006 scores 21/30 and 2018 22/30.  August I feel is the decider and 2018 had the much better one.

Also considering the extended summer may 2018 was far superior to May 2006, in fact no comparison really at all.  September is a funny one as 2006 was the warmest on record but wasn't always settled, 2018 IIRC was drier but not always warm (though never too cold) so the September's, maybe 2006 edges it for the warmth there was, but only just.

[Extreme months opposite one year on]

March 1996 cold / 1997 warm

August 2020 (hot and humid then cold (interesting)) / 2021 (cool cloudy and boring)

November 1996 v wet / November 1997 v dry

July 1999 very warm / both July 1998 and 2000 rather cool

[Summer 1994 30 years ago]

July 1994 was one of my favourite summer months ever for a humid, hot, thundery and sunny month.  Only July 2006 was better than this one in my lifetime (though I reckon I'd have liked July 1983 too).  It varied between hot and dry and hot and thundery throughout.  Only the 4th 5th and 6th were unsettled, but even this period had thundery showers around a shallow low.

June was also very good but not extreme.  I remember a lot of days that were sunny with temps around 21 to 24 degrees.  There were two days though of about 27C and one of them, a Friday, had a great storm in the evening too.  I think the London area got an absolute pasting from this MCS.

August started where July left off and we had a cracking storm overnight 3/4th which knocked our power out.  This was after a really hot and humid day.  I then spent 2 weeks in France from 7th to 21st but I think the summer was back to normal by then.

There just seemed to be a great 6 weeks or so from around 23rd June to 5th august of rinse and repeat.. the heat would build day by day, we'd get a great storm, then it would start all over again, sunny and low 20s.  I can't remember anything like that since.. 2nd half of June 2005 maybe?

I have read somewhere that we were on the western edge of a very hot surge of air from the south at this time.  Central Europe up through to Scandinavia were extremely hot during this period.

[General summer chat]

Not that I'd necessarily want it, but we haven't had a summer since 1993 that's failed to top 30C.  Could this be the year?  Maybe, maybe not with our warming climate, but with a nino to nina quick flip expected I do worry a bit for summer 24.

[Months that were mild, but still contained at least a widespread snow event]

February 2004.  Had snow in various areas at the end of the month

I think December 2002 had snow in some areas on the 10th

22 February 1995.  This was a very mild month but many areas had a thundersnow event along a squall line, from a seemingly normal Atlantic low.  This gave a covering in many places

[Favourite Marches]

My favourite March would be 1st week of 1995, 2nd week of 2014, 3rd week of 2009, 4th week of 2012, then 29th to 31st 2021.

[Summer 1989: the most underrated summer of the 20th century?]

Yes a great summer, I was only 9 at the time and my interest in weather kicked off around then.

When I think of summer 1989, May definitely forms a part of that.  In fact the only better mays in my lifetime were 1992 and maybe 2020.

There was a lot of thunder as well.  I remember storms that were widespread on 1st, 4th, 22nd, 23rd and 24th May as well as 6/7 July and 14 August.  

There was a week long heatwave around the 3rd week of July which would rival any we get nowadays, save the absolute max was 34.2C.

[Spring 2024]

Saw some daffodils coming out this morning when I was on my run.  Was then doing a bit of work in the garden in just jeans and a tee shirt and felt very spring like until the sun went in.  Spring not far away people!   Also happy to just see a bit of sun this weekend.

[The changing daylight hours thread]

First time there has been some light at 5.30pm.  Probably down to the first time this month we've had any susnhine!

[February 2024 C.E.T. and EWP contests]

I'm going to have to bottle my 8.1 guess.  Thought it would be record breakingly mild.

Guessing 5.8 now.  Think it will be mostly mild but a couple of colder periods likely.

Rain unchanged 33mm